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An improved value of the lunar moment of inertia

1977; American Geophysical Union; Volume: 82; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1029/jb082i011p01699

2156-2202

W. T. Blackshear, J. P. Gapcynski,

Spacecraft and Cryogenic Technologies

The lunar gravitational research reported on by Gapcynski et al., (1975) has been extended to include an additional 600 days of the time variation of ascending node for the Explorer 49 spacecraft. Analysis of these additional data resulted in an improved value of the second-degree zonal harmonic coefficient C(20) = (-2.0219 equal to 0.0091) times 10 to the minus 4. This value of C(20) used in conjunction with the parameters beta equal to libration (631.27 + or - 0.03) times 10 to the minus 6 and gamma to (227.7 + or - 0.7) times 10 to the minus 6 yields a more accurate definition of the lunar moment of inertia ratio equal to 0.391 + or - 0.002.